


You Knew?

by laadychat



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, a fun fic idea, nothing too serious, they're so adorable and so dumb, who would break first?, wild shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:34:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26229526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laadychat/pseuds/laadychat
Summary: It was an accident!Just the wrong place at the wrong time!But now, Marinette and Adrien have to navigate on how to treat one another both in the suit and out of it.Besides, the other doesn't know that they know, right?(They're both terribly wrong but let's all tag along on this journey of self-love, friendship, and the potential of love.)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Classmates, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Classmates
Comments: 6
Kudos: 53





	You Knew?

She knew.

She knew but he doesn’t _know_ that.

It was odd, fighting alongside her partner while also knowing who he is under the mask.

To explain, it wasn’t like she tried to find out on purpose! Marinette Dupain-Cheng was at the wrong place at the wrong time and before she knew it, her partner in savior had transformed back to his civilian self.

This was two nights ago.

Since then, Tiki has berated her, drilled her for what she was going to do about it now.

She knows what the right thing would be - tell Adrien Agreste what she saw. But then that would expose _her_. Which would be fair, this she understood.

The fact that her wild, crazy, boisterous partner was her class’ sunshine boy still hadn’t fully sunk in her mind. It was hard, wrapping this around her head. And as she watched the way Chat Noir bounced away, warding off the akuma, it was odd to think that it was the Agreste boy, throwing puns and deflecting the attacks. 

It got her thinking about how much she actually knew about her partner. Did she really know him that well? If so, how did she not realize that he was Adrien Agreste, the boy she shared some classes with?

This made her realizes that even though she calls him a friend outside of the suit, she doesn’t really know much about Adrien. She knew his father was horrible, that before he came to school, he had been homeschooled. Hell, it’s been three years and she was able to get over her crush and be normal around him at the beginning of _this_ year.

And she knew if Chat Noir found out about the reason why she was so awkward with his civilian self _,_ he would make fun of her for it.

But when she switches the name from _Chat Noir_ to _Adrien Agreste,_ there was a disconnect. She can’t imagine her classmate being the one to tease her like the way she has come to expect from the other hero.

This, she had decided, needed to change. Which meant she had to become the friend Adrien felt like he could relax around.

There were times when he would joke around with her, but it was always so faint, so quick that before she could make a comment about it, he had changed back into the Adrien everyone knew. 

Maybe she should ask Nino how Adrien is around him. Those two boys, along with Kim and Nathaniel, seemed to be the ones he was most comfortable around.

But then she thought of the way Chat Noir acted, always so, as Alya had put it once, ‘ _extra’_. He was confident, sassy, headstrong. She hadn’t ever really saw him be sensitive, or soft, never really talked about his days. 

Now that she was really thinking about it, every time Marinette brought it up, her partner always deflected and before she knew it, they were talking about something that had bothered her.

This, she realized, both sides of him do. 

Adrien never talked about his photoshoots or job, never talked about the recent rumor about him.

Never talked about his home.

From what Marinette could gather as Ladybug from Chat Noir, he didn’t like being home if he could help it. Sometimes, on a random night when a patrol wasn’t scheduled, she would see the Ladyblog flash with sightings of him. 

Marinette felt it was a little easier gluing the idea of Adrien and Chat Noir being the same person after these revelations. But since these revelations weren’t very positive things, she decided to get to know her partner and friend better.

But of course, her kwami didn’t have the same thoughts. 

“Tikki, how can I say he is my best friend when I don’t actually know him well enough to realize he was my classmate for _three years._ ”

The small kwami of creation threw her small palms in the air, a huff of annoyance passing her lips. “It isn’t fair that you know and he doesn’t! You have to tell him you know.”

Marinette knows it isn’t fair. He’s been wondering when they’d reveal themselves and she always brushed it off. She _knows_ but couldn’t help the hesitation.

It actually made her a bit sad, not realizing the similarities between the boys she held such respect for. 

“I just want to get to know my partner better, Tikki. It makes me sad, to not have realized they were the same person.” She confessed softly, looking down at her hands, shoulder dropped. 

The spotted kwami seemed to deflate at the confession, her antenna drooping slightly. She flew over to her owner and landed on her hands, looking up at the pigtailed girl. Marinette wanted to do what Tikki said. She was right, Adrien had the right to knew his identity was compromised.

But as the guardian of the kwamis, she needed to know who he was anyway, right? So maybe it wasn’t terrible that she found out accidentally. Sure, the best situation would have been that he told on his own when he came to such a decision.

Who was she kidding, she needed to tell him. Better now than later.

But when her phone lit up from the secret texting app her and Chat Noir uses, her conviction swayed. 

She would tell him. 

Just not yet.

-

He knew.

He knew but _she_ didn’t know that.

And he should tell her. Her identity has been compromised, of course he should admit it to her that he knew who was under the suit.

After all, Adrien Agreste knew how much Ladybug cared about her identity, She would be devastated to know that he was aware of it.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

The girl he went to school with.

If he found out before this year, he wouldn’t have believed it.

Usually, she was always so shy around him and his partner was anything _but_ shy.

Plus, how was it that he and Ladybug knew each other outside of the suit but it never occurred to him that she was Marinette Dupain-Cheng?

Sure, he had thought his lady was their class representative but each time such an idea came into his head, something always, _always,_ contradicted it. For crying out loud, he saw Marinette and Ladybug right next to each other over a year ago!

Since then, he always assumed there was no chance they were the same people. 

But now, with how Marinette was more comfortable around him, he thinks the possibility of it is very likely. 

And this thought actually concerned him more than anything else.

Marinette, from what he knew, was already doing so many things. She was the class representative, on an internship, and he _knew_ she was also taking clothing commissions.

Being Ladybug on top of it? It’s a miracle she was in the top five students of their class. 

(Kim was the top, which many found surprising but Adrien knew what it was like to be underestimated by everyone. Who would believe him to be Chat Noir?)

It also made him wonder just how it slipped his thoughts, how he was close friends with his partner without realizing it. 

With how much he prided in himself for being best friends with Ladybug, this was definitely an eyeopener to the fact that no, he really didn’t know her. 

It made him sad. And upset with himself - Adrien always told his partner he would know if he ever ran into her. To know that he was actually seeing his partner five days a week without realizing it?

No wonder Plagg always sniggered whenever he said such.

That little sneaky cheese-eating kwami knew. 

But Adrien couldn’t fault him for being secretive of it, though if he really thought about it, Plagg wasn’t all that quiet about it. How many times has he told Adrien to drop his fixation on Ladybug and focus on Marinette?

How many times has Plagg called Marinette his girlfriend?

But at the same time, Ladybug didn’t want him to know who she was. Wasn’t it a good thing he didn’t found out who she was beforehand? Well, before he had accidentally stepped into the alleyway Ladybug had picked to detransform in. 

He’s so screwed.

“Finally! All this running around in circles was driving me crazy.”

Inhaling sharply, Adrien snapped his neck towards the small black kwami and narrowed his eyes. Couldn’t see what a struggle this was for him?

“What are you talking about, Plagg?”

The kwami of destruction waved his paw, his eyes only on the piece of cheese in front of him. “You know who she is now, aren’t you happy?”

Letting out a sigh of exasperation, the blonde model flopped on his bed. He was happy - he finally knew who was under the mask. But it was done in a way that he knew would upset his partner. 

“You know how much she treasures her identity? She will be upset if I told her I knew she’s Marinette!”

“It’s not like you found out on purpose, it was just wrong place, wrong time. Or in your case,” Plagg turned his head towards Adrien, a lazy smile on his lips. “Right place, right time.” 

His kwami did have a point, surely Ladybug would understand it was a mistake. 

But how would he be able to look at Marinette in the eye tomorrow? How was he supposed to react around her now with the knowledge that she was his partner in saving Paris? 

Adrien is aware that he keeps a difference between his personas. He isn’t as easy going when he was Adrien, always worried that someone would take what he says out of context, of the potential next scandal.

It’s not that he didn’t trust his classmates. In fact, once Lila had been taken out of school over a year ago, everyone had made sure he was treated like a normal kid, not a well-known model, son of renowned fashion designer Gabriel Agreste.

(Though, Adrien didn’t understand how he was so famous with that suit and tie he wears on the daily.)

Was he suppose to treat Marinette the way he has before? Sitting up quickly, he threw Plagg a panicked look. Suddenly, he doesn’t remember how he spoke to her. Did he always say good morning first? They sat next to each other in two classes, did he always wait until she sat before sitting down?

“I can literally hear you thinking, kid.”

“Plagg, I don’t know what to do.” He blurted, wringing his fingers with a helpless expression. It has been two days since he had found out and blessfully, it was the weekends after that. For the past two days, it was the only thing running through his mind and now that come tomorrow he would have to face her, he was panicking.

Ladybug is sharp, attentive. She would know if Adrien started acting differently.

The tiny creature huffed out a sigh before lazily floating towards his wielder. “Just act like you normally would. Like Chat Noir and then she’ll figure out it’s you and boom!” He clapped his hand, a wide grin on his lips. “You know each other!”

Logically, that seemed like a good idea. But that would be deceiving and Adrien wouldn’t be able to stomach it. Marinette doesn’t deserve that. She deserves honesty and truth. 

Before his nerves could get the best of him, he leaped over his bed towards his nightstand and snatched his phone up, scrolled through it quickly, and sent a text to the girl who has constantly been on his mind.

_Chat Noir: hey, i got something to say. patrol today?_

It was only when he saw the bubbles pop up, indicating that the person who he just texted was responding back did Adrien look up with wide eyes. 

No, he couldn’t do this. Not yet.

_“Plagg, what do I do?”_

**Author's Note:**

> another mlb fic? i must thank lonesilverw0lf on tumblr for this idea <3


End file.
